


Stay on the Path

by Nightwingshero



Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:53:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24778705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightwingshero/pseuds/Nightwingshero
Summary: Wren Blake is the new deputy of Hope County. It wasn't her dream job, not from a long shot. But Wren saw this as an opportunity to start over and right her life, while trying to find a connection with the mother she had lost so many years ago. Moving to her mother's hometown was only emotionally taxing, because nothing bad every happens in small towns, right? But with only a week under her belt, she gets thrown into the operation to arrest Joseph Seed, and she quickly realizes that maybe her life isn't on the right path after all.
Relationships: Female Deputy | Judge/John Seed, Jacob Seed/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Stay on the Path

**Author's Note:**

> One night  
> You came on over to me  
> Late night  
> We shared a drink or three  
> Night night  
> I read a proverb to you  
> That night  
> She left a room with a view  
> Take all the time  
> Time that you want to  
> Make up your mind  
> Mind how you go  
> Take me in time  
> Time to the music  
> Take me away to the twilight zone  
> Last night  
> We stayed up late in a dream  
> My oh my  
> We read a play with no theme  
> Lifetime  
> In which our love pursues  
> My time  
> In which I spend with you  
> Now I know the lonely days are gone  
> Dont you know that I can see  
> Like a summer day thats always long  
> We repel the wet of tears  
> As the shadows lighten up the day  
> Through the cons we laugh away  
> Like a windy day thats always wrong  
> We take shelter where we can  
> Last night  
> I came on over to you  
> My oh my  
> We played a song or two  
> Lifetime  
> I read a poem aloud  
> My time  
> I wrote a song for thee
> 
> shelter Song - Temples

This wasn’t how I imagined my first week to go. Hope County was _small._ Smaller than what I was used to. I hadn’t really settled in yet, I just showed up at the station eager to jump into an easy day of training. It didn’t faze me that Hudson barely acknowledged me or that Pratt was overly excited to show me the ropes. I just wanted to put my head down and do right; to make up for the “wasted time” I spent in college. That is, according to what my father believed. His dream was to have a son who would follow in the legacy of joining the military. Unfortunately for him, none of those things happened.

When I had arrived at the jail earlier today, my black hair was in a half-assed ponytail out of convenience. I had the sleeves of my uniform rolled up, but I had the first button or two unbuttoned. I didn’t do well with uniforms. Another reason why the military would never work for me. But when I walked in and began to get settled for the day, a U.S. Marshal had stormed in with a warrant talking about “the Seed family”. I honestly didn’t understand what the hell he was talking about. I mean, I had heard the name, but I kept to myself most of the time. I didn’t get out much and we hadn’t really been on patrol since I started. The Sheriff ushered him into his office as Nancy chatted us up over donuts and coffee. They had stayed in there for hours while Nancy asked me questions about my life, and she was beginning to become a friendly face.

But that conversation with the Marshal is what led me to the helicopter I was flying in tonight. I wasn’t the epitome of a perfect cop. In fact, this whole thing was new to me. I had experience shooting guns, sure. My father wouldn’t let that slip, so I started young. But I was new to the law enforcement career. It wasn’t my dream job, but it was something I could do if it meant doing what was right, if it meant _setting my life_ right. So, I had went to the academy. The problem was that I knew people saw right through it, which was probably why the U.S Marshal, Burke, kept throwing me looks. I honestly couldn’t help it. That was my father, not me. It made me nervous that I was taking down a such a big operation, knowing that I had little to no experience in this field, other than the classes and little training I had to do in order to even get the position. I knew how to shoot a gun, my father taught me some survival skills, but that was it. The ramblings of a mad, bitter man didn’t do me much good here.

I just continued to look at my reflection in the window, my blue-green eyes stared back at me in wonder as I took in the beautiful landscape of Hope County from this height. I huffed and began watching the video that ended up bringing Cameron Burke here in the first place. It opened nicely with interviews with a pretty woman in a bar, a Father in a church, and a guy sitting on the couch. If you asked me, he looked like a rejected member of a rock band. It was a welcome of Montana at first, and then it began to speak of a cult, but before I could really get into it, the signal cutting in and out after it showed this “Joseph Seed” gauging someone’s eyes out with his bare hands. My stomach flipped uneasily, and I frowned as the signal went completely dead.

“Hey, Blake. Blake! You’re wasting your time. No signal out here.” Whitehorse called as I looked up at him and I caught the judging eyes of the Marshal before he went back to looking over his warrant.

“We’re crossing over the Henbane now.” Pratt informed us over the radio as I looked back out the window only to see a huge statue of a man with a beard and a man bun. I didn’t know how the hell I missed that when I was coming in, but all I could do now was stare at it. This guy has been busy.

“Oh fuck. There he is.” Hudson said with pure contempt in her voice.

“Crazy motherfucker.” Pratt commented back.

“Jesus….” The Marshall breathed.

“We’re in Peggie country.” I didn’t understand what Hudson meant by calling them Peggies, but her tone gave me chills. I knew that I heard a lot of people from around the town use it, I just never thought to ask. I thought it was a Montana thing. The Marshall ignored her and looked at Sheriff Earl Whitehorse.

“How much longer?”

“Just long enough for you to change your mind,” he turned his head to Burke. “so, we can turn this bird around.” I became more tense. I still didn’t truly understand what was really going on. Sure, I’ve heard some talk about the Seed family, but I honestly never paid attention to it. Everyone always had something to say about someone, so I always stuck to myself and I’ve lived that way for years. I didn’t know how long I was going to be out here, anyways. But they were just a religious family with followers, right? They couldn’t be _that_ dangerous, could they? The video definitely suggested otherwise.

“You want me to ignore a federal warrant, Sheriff?” He asked icily. I raised my brows in surprise at his tone towards Whitehorse.

“No, sir. I want you to understand the reality of this situation.” He shifted and looked him straight in the eye. “Joseph Seed is not a man to be fucked with.” A chill ran down my spine at the weight of his words before he continued. “We’ve had run ins with him before and they haven’t always gone our way. Sometimes…just sometimes it’s best to leave well enough alone.”

“Yeah, well, we have laws for a reason. And Joseph Seed is going to learn that.” With that, he tucked the warrant away and looked out the window. It almost reminded me of a small child throwing a fit. Sheriff had an almost defeated look on his face before looking over his shoulder.

“Pratt, open up a call with dispatch.”

“10-4.”

“Whitehorse to dispatch, over.”

“Go ahead, Earl.” Nancy responded immediately.

“We’re approaching the compound, Nancy. Over.” My heart leaped when I realized we were close. I began to wish that I had stayed behind with Nancy. She brought in cookies earlier and anything would have been better than this situation.

“Roger, Sheriff. Still planning on going through with this? Over.”

“We are—unfortunately—still trying to talk sense into our friend, the Marshal. Over.”

“Alright. Lucky I’m not there. If you get into any trouble, you just let me know. Over.” I couldn’t help but smile at her response.

“10-4. Over and out.” It went silent until Pratt turned to Hudson.

“Maybe we should have brought Nancy along instead of the Probie. These Peggies wouldn’t fuck with her.”

“Pratt.” Hudson scolded. I rolled my eyes as I glanced back out the window. I didn’t need reminding how new I was to this; my nerves did that for me. The Marshal turned back to Whitehorse with a bit of a frown.

“Why do they keep calling them Peggies?”

“The Project of Eden’s Gate. P.E.G. Peggie. It’s what the locals call them. They started out harmless a few years back, but now they’re armed to the teeth. They’re looking for a fight.”

“…are you scared, Sheriff?” Burke asked incredulously. I studied the Sheriff out of the corner of my eye, waiting to hear his response, but none came.

“We’re here. Compounds just below.” Pratt said and I looked to see a decent sized church and some building surrounding it as we lowered.

“Oh, my Jesus.” Burke groaned as he studied our new surroundings.

“Damn.” I breathed out in shock at the sheer size on the compound.

“Oh man, this is a bad idea.” Hudson commented to herself.

“Last chance, Marshal.” Burke sighed for a second before replying.

“We’re going in.” I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until that very moment. My heart sank at Burke’s words. I had a bad feeling about this, and I didn’t want to be here. Anxiety clawed at my insides.

“Set ‘er down.” Whitehorse ordered and I wanted nothing more than to beg him to change his mind.

“Roger that.” The helicopter began to descend all the way down and I could see people armed with assault rifles and someone with a flamethrower that was burning a pile of wood. My uneasy feeling intensified. I knew we were on private property, so technically speaking, that was legal for them to do. I didn’t know what was on the Marshal’s warrant, but that definitely couldn’t be it. They were in their rights. As the helicopter landed, Whitehorse called out to Nancy.

“Dispatch, are you still there?”

“Yeah, go ahead, Sheriff.”

“If you don’t hear from us in 15 minutes, send in everyone. Send in the goddam National Guard if you have to. Over.” The blood in my veins went cold. What the fuck did I get myself into?

“Yes sir, Sheriff. I’ll be praying for you.” We took our headsets off and Whitehorse turned to us.

“Now listen up. Three rules. Stick close. Keep your guns in your holsters. And let me do the talking. Got it?”

“Got it.” Burke replied. But I wasn’t so confident. Everything was screaming for me to stay in the helicopter. I wasn’t welcome here; I could feel that, and I hadn’t even stepped out of the copter.

“Blake?” he called. I looked at him and gave him a quick nod, not trusting my voice. “Alright everyone, stay sharp. Let’s go.” I followed their lead as we stepped out of the helicopter, even though everything in me was screaming not to. Hudson, Burke, and Whitehorse began to make their way forward. “They’ll be in the church. Stay close.” I begrudgingly began to follow behind them. They were walking at a faster pace than I was, and to be honest, I lagged a little behind out of reluctance. All the people were glaring at me and they had way bigger guns than I did. I was allowed to feel a little nervous.

“Eyes open, these folks spook easily.” Whitehorse called from over his shoulder. Hudson slowed and began to walk alongside me.

“Blake, on me. Stay loose, huh?” she said, giving me a quick look. I guess it was obvious I was that nervous. I tried my best to hide it, but my heart was pounding. It wasn’t exactly comforting to have people with assault rifles glare at you. I just gave her a quick nod in response. Apparently, it was the only way I knew how to communicate right now.

“We didn’t do anything wrong!”

“What the hell are they doing here?” Voices rang out from the people as confusion turned to anger. If Hudson hadn’t been there, I probably would have tucked tail. This wasn’t something I was used to. Sure, I could hold my own. But I came here for a fresh start. I knew it wasn’t going to be _easy_ being in law enforcement, but I felt like things had escalated quickly for me. I wasn’t about to pick a fight with someone that carried a damn flamethrower when all I had was a service pistol. I would do anything in that moment to trade with Hudson so I could have the shotgun.

“Be calm. Stay calm everyone. Just go about your business. This doesn’t concern you.” Whitehorse said as he continued to walk confidently through the gate.

“Sheriff, I don’t like this.” Hudson chimed in, saying exactly what I had been thinking. I was new, but Hudson wasn’t, and even she was picking up on it.

“Everything is fine, Hudson. Everything is just fine.” He reassured her. It didn’t feel fine, and I desperately wanted to believe him, but I wasn’t even sure if he believed himself.

“Jesus Christ, you’re wearing badges, aren’t you?” Burke spoke out condescendingly. I frowned and felt the strong urge to punch him. He spoke a lot like my father and that wasn’t something I really wanted to listen to. This badge meant _nothing_. It was a piece of metal. It was person that held that weight, not the badge, and people saw through that. Especially for those who didn’t care much for authority in the first place.

“Yeah, but they don’t respect badges much out here.” Hudson shot back, confirming my fears. I couldn’t help but smile just a bit at her sharp tongue. Subtle, but sharp. Maybe one day, we could actually be friends. Maybe.

“They’ll respect a nine-millimeter.” I looked at his back with disgust. I was liking this Marshal less and less by the second. I was tempted to ask him if he knew my father, and if not, they would make a great miserable pair. There was always some sort of power play, and I had a feeling that the Marshal enjoyed that badge a little bit more than he should and for the wrong reasons.

“Not every problem can be solved by a bullet, Marshal.” I spoke out. Hudson raised a brow at me as Burke shot me a glare which I returned. Hearing a clank behind me, I look over my shoulder to find them closing the gate behind us. I swallowed with another twist in my gut. That couldn’t be a good sign, and I had the heavy feeling of our fates being sealed along with it.

We finally came to a stop right in front of the church and I could hear them singing Amazing Grace. Curiosity began to outweigh the uneasiness I had felt. Burke must have been feeling eager as he was quick to just grab the door handle, but Whitehorse stopped him before he had a chance to open it.

“Whoa Marshal. Now we do this, we do it my way. Quietly. Calmly. You got it?” he asked as Burke let go of the door.

“Fine.” He huffed. The Sheriff turned to Hudson and me.

“Hudson, on the door. Watch our backs. Don’t let any of these people get in. Blake—on me.” I was only partially excited and that was just from the curiosity, which I knew was dangerous. It was my flaw. My curiosity always got the better of me, and I have been put in some bad situations because of it. The more logical side of me wished I could have stayed outside with Hudson and her shotgun. “And you,” he turned to Burke “just try not to do anything stupid.” I caught my laugh, but I couldn’t hide the smirk that bled through. Hudson turned and nudged me with her shoulder, and I could see the laughter in her eyes. I had a feeling we were going to get along. Friends, indeed.

“Relax, Sheriff. You’re about to get your name in the paper.” The Marshal replied as he put his hand on Whitehorse’s shoulder. It became very clear as to what drove Burke: Glory. Sheriff gave him grim look and turned to the door. Hudson took a step towards me, gaining my attention again.

“You’ll be fine.” She assured me quietly.

“Thanks.” I whispered back as I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. I couldn’t let my feelings get the better of me, no matter how unnerving they were. Whitehorse finally opened the door and you could see how old the church was. The singing came to an end, and I could make out the pews with a few people and a man standing on a platform in front. Light poured out of the window, giving him a glow that definitely seemed holy. Above us were dozens of empty bird cages, lightly swaying. Some had candles in them, while the others were dark and empty, all of them giving off a haunting beauty. They were strangely similar to the cage tattooed on the inside of my forearm. Too familiar. A shiver ran down my spine as I caught myself from tracing over it. 

“Something is coming.” His voice rang through the church, bringing me out of my daze. “You can feel it, can’t you? That we are creeping toward the edge…and there will be a reckoning.” The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as the faceless figure turned to us once the door shut behind me. He continued as we slowly made our way forward. “That’s why we started the Project. Because we know what happens next.” His voice rose an octave. “They will come. They will take from us.” Burke looked at Earl and he raised his hand in a calming manner. “Take our guns. Take our freedom…take our faith.” My heart leapt a bit as everyone in the pews began to stand as we passed them. I could see the tv monitors now that had scripture and the logo for their Project. This was Eden’s Gate. I became more nervous as I could feel the anger from their followers for our intrusion. I wanted to run and hide from their eyes. “We will not let them.”

“Sheriff, c’mon—” I wanted to scream at him, to tell him to shut up and not say another word. Abrasiveness was all Burke knew, and the last thing we need was for him to light a match in the powder keg this situation had turned into.

“Just hold on, Marshal.” Whitehorse warned.

“We will not let their greed, or their immorality, or their depravity hurt us anymore.” We were finally close up enough to see a man with no shirt standing above everyone else. He wore yellow aviators and his long hair was in a bun. His beard wasn’t the longest, but it wasn’t short either. His jeans were worn, and his chest was covered in tattoos and scars. Out of the corner of my eye, there were people standing to the side, but I could only just take in this man: Joseph Seed.

“Sheriff…” Burke’s rang like a warning, my eyes only darting to his back briefly.

“There will be no more suffering….”

“Do _not_ pull that trigger. Remain calm.” Whitehorse responded to him lowly.

“No. Fuck this.” Burke whipped out the warrant and faced Joseph Seed head on. I inhaled sharply through my nose and moved forward to grab Burke, my fight or flight response urging me to pull him back like the idiot he was. Whitehorse quickly placed his hand on my arm, stopping me. I glanced at the Sheriff, catching his eye in confusion. I couldn’t put a name on the look he gave me, but I knew what he was trying to tell me. Burke’s idiot decision would remain his, not mine. I took a slight step back as my attention moved back to the Marshal.

“Joseph Seed! I have a warrant for your arrest on the suspicion of kidnapping with the intent of harm!” I furrowed my brow and looked at him. What? My heart was racing, but the blood drained from my face. I was supposed to keep my composure. It’s one of the things that they teach you. But I couldn’t help my face contorting in disbelief. On _suspicion._ We had barged into a dangerous situation with a warrant due to _suspicion._ I clenched my teeth in frustration at the Marshal for believing he knew better than the Sheriff. “Now, I want you to step forward and keep your hands where I can see them.” I held my breath as I kept my eyes on Joseph, waiting to see what he would do or how he would respond. He lifted his hands and regarded us.

“There they are…the Locusts in our garden…you see, they’ve come for me.” As he spoke, all of the people in the pews began to make their way in front and around us, protecting their Father from the threat we had become. “They’ve come to take me away from you. They’ve come to destroy all that we built!” The crowd became rowdier and more aggressive. I began to feel panicked and overwhelmed, the claws of my claustrophobia wrapping around my throat, but Burke and Whitehorse held their ground.

“Alright, now. Put your guns down. Put your guns down!” Burke responded as he reached for his gun. Whitehorse and I took a step back as I watched the Marshal in horror.

“Dude, what are you—?” I called out as my hand brushed my holster, but the Sheriff put his hands up in defense, cutting me off as he addressed the mob and Burke.

“Now hold on, do _not_ touch that service weapon and stand down! Stand down! Everyone, calm down!” Whitehorse raised his voice to try and get through the yelling and protests of the people in front of us, but it went unnoticed. Joseph stepped down, his hands finding the shoulders of some of his men, and everyone began to quiet as they turned to him.

“We knew this moment would come. We have prepared for it. Go. Go…” And just like that, they turned and began to walk out of the church as a man began to come up from behind Joseph Seed. I watched, as he walked across the platform, with another man finding his way next to Joseph. I frowned as the two men looked each other, giving a quick exchange I couldn’t quite hear, but one of the people shoulder-checked me on his way past us, pulling my attention only briefly. “God will not let them take me.” I frowned as I watched them leave, curiosity biting in the back of my mind. With just a touch on a shoulder, he had completely defused the situation.

“I saw when the Lamb opened the First Seal,” Joseph’s voice had me turning my head back to him. His hands were raised up over his head as he spoke, but he wasn’t alone. Along with the two men was a young woman with light dirty blond hair and a white dress that now stood to his left. I kept my focus on Joseph, the others “as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts say, come and see…”

“Step forward.” Burke sneered. Joseph dropped his hands and looked at the Marshal, allowing me a better view of the people that moved to support The Father. The man to his right had his arms crossed over his chest, legs spread as he stood firm. I knew immediately to be wary of him. Just size alone, he would be someone rough to go up against. The girl just stood there at ease, her green eyes light and scanning me with a soft smile on her face. She swayed, making her white dress move at the slightest movement. Then my eyes finally landed on the other man.

He looked younger than the other men, and I wondered if they were actually brothers. I couldn’t make out a lot from the distance, but he had dark hair and a well-manicured beard. He wore a trench coat and had a pair of blue sunglasses on his head. His eyes caught with mine as his brother eyed us, sizing us up. This guy seemed to have his hands behind his back, his head tilting back a bit, the lines of his chest flexing as more skin is revealed through his unbuttoned shirt, and a smug look on his face, completely at ease with no care in the world, and I couldn’t help but stare at him. But his smirk widened as he licked his lips, and then it occurred to me. _He knew I was staring._ I chided myself and I forced my eyes away as Joseph continued.

“…and I saw,” he pointed his finger in Burke’s face and I pursed my lips to keep myself from smirking. “and behold it was a white horse,” he looked at the Sheriff, before turning to me directly. I inhaled sharply at the unexpected attention. “And Hell followed with him.” A chill went down my spine as he refused to break eye contact with me. The heaviness of his words felt like it weighed down my soul. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. He then raised his hands and I stepped closer to him, unsure of what I was actually going to do. I broke eye contact only to find another pair of deep, dark blue ones staring at me with curiosity, smirk completely gone. I didn’t know what it was, I couldn’t really explain it, but the pull was there. He shifted a bit, his hands coming in front of him briefly as adjusted his coat, a quick roll of his shoulders that brought my attention back to his chest. I wanted to run up and…I don’t know. I felt like I was bare, that he could see right through me, and I didn’t know if that terrified or excited me.

“Blake,” Burke’s voice pulled me back to reality and I looked at him. “cuff this son of a bitch.” I frowned at his crass wording and glared while jutting my chin out, remembering how he pretty much fucked the entire situation. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the red head shift on his feet, throwing a glance at his other brother. Burke returned my glare tenfold, and I turned back to Joseph, not wanting to get into any more trouble I may have already been in. I hesitated, and as subtly as I could, I threw a look at the man in the trench coat again. I didn’t know why I was hesitating, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

“God will not let you take me.” Joseph said confidently and I looked back at him. Something twinkled in his eyes, and I wasn’t sure as to what it was, it seemed there was a knowing intelligence that told me that perhaps I wasn’t as subtle as I thought. But _his_ eyes were on me, too and so were everyone else’s. The last thing I wanted was for the red-haired soldier to come at me. He looked like he was ready to take on the world. I would probably weigh nothing to him. Fear danced across my neck, creating goosebumps in its wake. 

“Blake! Put the cuffs on him!” Burke snapped, making me cringe. I took a calming breath before I looked back at Joseph. I was conflicted. I didn’t want things to get violent and I had a very bad feeling that they wouldn’t just let us take him, the sting of my shoulder still there. I just wanted to keep the peace.

“Put down your guns. Take your friends. Walk away.” Joseph said calmly, soothingly. I bit my lip, it was so easy to fall into his voice, to second guess everything. It did sound tempting, to just walk away and go against Burke. I could. _We_ could _._ We could walk out of here like nothing ever happened. “God is watching. And he will judge you for what you do in this moment.”

“Come on, Rookie…” Burke groaned as I looked over to the Sheriff, irritated at the nickname. We both didn’t want this, right? He didn’t want things to escalate any more than I did. Would he really let us walk out of here? I continued to study the Sheriff, searching for some sort of indication. Anything. He had a look of reluctance and he clenched his jaw. I had a feeling that this was going to have to be my decision and I bit of frustration whispered in the back of my mind. “God damn it Blake, seriously? What are you doing? Asking your dad for permission?” I flinched slightly at his word choice, but I kept my focus on Whitehorse, not taking the bait. The man in the trench coat scoffed as he shifted, my eyes following his movement only briefly.

“Sheriff?” I asked, and even I could hear the doubt and uncertainty in my voice. Earl sighed in response.

“We came here for a reason, Deputy.” He replied, his eyes full of defeat as his eyes fell from mine. My shoulders caved a bit at his response, but before I could do or say anything else, Burke had elbowed me out of the way, and I stumbled to the side from being taken off guard. Joseph frowned as his siblings shifted a bit.

“Fuck this. I’ll do it my goddamn self.”

I shot him a glare, my anger momentarily pumping through my veins. The urge to mouth off to him was strong, but I held my tongue, even though his actions were uncalled for and aggressive. I took another breath as I tried to shove my retort back down my throat. Now was definitely not the time for me to run my mouth, it would only make things worse, and like it or not, he was still a superior of sorts.

“Easy, Marshal.” Whitehorse responded quickly but remaining calm. I dared a glance at the Sheriff in shock, not expecting him to defend me _._ I exhaled shakily as I turned, watching as Burke looked ready to blow and I bit my lip. Burke sneered as he roughly pulled Joseph forward and tightly cuffed one of his wrists. I winced at the click, but Joseph didn’t even flinch or make a sound. I took a step forward with a frown.

“You know that’s too tight.” I said lowly, but my voice echoed through the quiet church. I could feel Burke glaring at me, but I didn’t really care. I just wanted this to be over. I could feel the Seed family drilling holes into me with their piercing blue eyes.

“Who cares?” Burke sneered at me. I looked down as I fought back the tears of anger that were threatening to humiliate me in front of my superiors and our audience.

“If this is how you’re going do it, then step aside, Marshal. Deputy Blake, cuff him properly.” Whitehorse asserted. Burke’s face twisted as he took a step away from Joseph and I took a calculated step forward, my eyes watching his every move. I didn’t trust Burke, badge or not. I turned to Joseph and began to redo the cuffs, making sure they weren’t cutting off his circulation. I looked up to catch his intense stare.

“Sometimes…the best thing to do is to walk away.” He whispered to me and my heart stopped as the blood drained from my face. I opened my mouth, but I didn’t know what to say. Not that Burke really gave me an option to.

“Jesus Christ. Let’s just fucking go.” He muttered and the Sheriff sighed. I put a gloved hand on Joseph’s shoulder, prepared to walk him out.

“You have the right to remain silent,” Burke groaned out his frustration and I expected him to stop me, but he didn’t. He knew we couldn’t just arrest people without reading them their rights. “anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?”

“Yes.” Joseph replied softly.

“Let’s go.” Whitehorse turned, and began to make his way to the church doors with Burke beside him.

“Drag him if you have to.” Marshal called over his shoulder tauntingly.

“Dick.” I replied quietly to myself without thinking. A cough and a light giggle were the responses I got behind me as Joseph shot me a look from the corner of his eye. I chided myself and began to follow the two men while gently escorting the brother. Burke and Whitehorse opened the doors, and there seemed to be a start of an uproar. Hudson looked over at us in panic.

“We gotta get the fuck outta here.” She said as a truck of men pulled up with guns.

“Marshal take point. On the right.” The Sheriff ordered as I saw that the path we had taken before was closed off and sealed.

“On it.” I was honestly shocked that he took an order easily, but it was probably due to the fact that he had what he wanted, and to him, that was all that mattered.

“Stay on the path, Blake.” Whitehorse called out over his shoulder as I began to take everything in. People were starting to get more and more stirred out. Yelling out and asking about us taking “The Father”. Amazing Grace began to play loudly, and dogs were barking viciously. Once or twice I got spooked, thinking that someone was going to grab me.

“Keep up, Rookie.” Hudson called out nervously. People began to pull out their guns.

“Stand back, I’m a Federal Marshal!” Burke yelled, but that didn’t stop them. They began to swarm us, and my pace quickened. Burke and Whitehorse then pulled out their service pistols in defense as we got closer the copter. Burke shot two warning shots into the air and Hudson and I rushed quickly to the bird. Hudson jumped on and ushered me forward, helping me situate Joseph. Pratt was freaking out in the pilot seat while Whitehorse and Burke were on my tail. We finally were able to get in after Joseph was taken care of, but someone grabbed Burke and he tried shaking them off. His followers began to _climb on the helicopter._ I looked around, panicked and in awe. I’ve never seen anything like this. Burke ended up shooting the guy in the head, and we both began to hastily buckle ourselves in. I gagged, cutting off the scream in my throat, at the sight of the blood and gore as my hands shook, and I could feel myself slipping into a full panic attack. My hand covered my mouth to keep myself from either puking or crying out as Whitehorse was trying to call Nancy from the front, but she wouldn’t answer. Joseph just sat there calmly with his head back and sang Amazing Grace. We couldn’t shake them off, even in the air, and then a man jumped up into the wings and blood splattered all over the windshield. My stomach lurched as alarms began to blare. We began to spin out of control, and I began to hyperventilate with the panic attack getting worse, but Joseph just kept singing.

“Brace for impact—" I couldn’t hear the rest of it as we hit the ground, everything turning black, and Joseph’s voice was still singing in my ears.

The smell of smoke was the first thing that caught my attention. Then it was Nancy’s voice over the radio that made me open my eyes. My body hurt, my head pounded, and my vision was a bit blurry. Across from me, Burke hung unconscious, which explained why my head felt the way it did.

“…This is Nancy, is everything okay? Over.” I looked to my side to see Hudson in a state that was no better than mine, but when I looked for the Sheriff, he was nowhere in sight. A headpiece just hung there, swinging back and forth. “Please, are you there? Are you there? Are you there, Sheriff?” I began to panic as I noticed that the seat Joseph occupied was now empty. Where was he? My heart started to pound, and I let out a whimper as I looked around. “Deputy Hudson, if you’re there, please pick up.”

“Amazing Grace…how sweet the sound.” Ice filled my veins and I began to desperately reach for the headset.

“Deputy Pratt, are you there? Are you there?” I almost cried when my fingers wrapped around it, and I pulled it to my face. A hand stopped mine, making me gasp in shock as Joseph Seed continued to sing.

“That saved…”

“Earl? Please, come in.”

“A wretch…like me...” he finished as he studied me. Tears were streaming down my face at this point, both from the smoke and the absolute terror I felt. Joseph only had a broken nose and a few bruises on his face and his yellow tinted glasses had made it through with on a crack in one of the lenses. I was too in shock to say a word.

“Are you there? Is somebody there? Please.” Nancy was becoming more frantic and my heart broke for her. Any words I was prepared to say choked in my throat as he leaned in closer, his eyes big and bright as the bore into mine.

“I told you that God wouldn’t let you take me.” He whispered and I exhaled shakily.

“Please…I need to know what’s going on.” Nancy pleaded as she began to cry. I wanted to scream and yell, to tell her that I was alive and to send for help. Send anyone. But Joseph reached for the headset and pulled the mic to his face while staring at me.

“Dispatch…”

“Oh, my God…” Nancy breathed a sigh of relief and I frowned.

“Everything is just fine over here. No need to call anyone.” There was a split second as I held my breath, waiting for Nancy to respond.

“Yes, Father. Praise be to you.” My heart sank at her words as I realized what that meant. She tipped them off. She was a part of it. A dry sob raked through my body in disbelief and heartbreak. Joseph leaned in closer as he let go of the headset.

“No one is coming to save you.” He whispered and another sob raked through me with new tears as the empty feeling of helplessness buried itself in the pit of my stomach. A car pulled up, gaining his attention and I watched as he left the helicopter. They rejoiced at the sight of their Father and he stood on the hood of the car to address the four men that stood before him.

“The First Seal has been broken. The Collapse is upon us. And we will take what we need. And preserve what we have.” I watched as Hudson and Burke stirred awake, coughing from the smoke. A sense of relief filled me. I wasn’t alone. “And we will kill all those that stand in our way!” I caught Hudson’s eye as Joseph focused his attention on us. “And these. The harbingers of doom will see the truth.”

“We gotta get outta here...we gotta get outta here.” Burke murmured, but I wasn’t paying attention to him. I was watching Hudson, making sure she was okay. I could see Joseph addressing his flock as she processed our situation.

“Begin the reaping!” Joseph yelled with his hands spread out to the sky.

“We gotta get out of here!” Burke said urgently and I watched as Hudson began to pull and struggle at the seatbelt. I turned and began to do the same as they approached Hudson and began to tug her out.

“NO!” I tried to yell as I reached for her, but it came out as a mere croak. We clasped hands briefly, before our grip was easily broken by the men dragging her. I tried pulling on her pants leg, but she was just out of reach. “Hudson!”

“Get the fuck off me! Pratt! Pratt!” she screamed, and I realized that they were taking him, too. They kicked as they fought against their captors.

“Jesus Christ, we got to get the fuck out of here!” The men turned back to us, but before they could reach in, the flames surged forward, blocking us from them momentarily. Burke dropped down and I felt a tiny bit of hope bloom in my chest.

“Help me out!” I cried at him as he took a second to collect himself.

“Let them burn. This is God’s will. This is their punishment.” Before I could say a word, Burke took off running out of the bird and I watched in disbelief. He was leaving me behind. That little snake was leaving me to die. I began to struggle even more as panic made it hard to breathe, pulling at the buckle, begging and praying for it to come loose. I needed to run. I didn’t want to die like this. I wished more than anything that I could go back in time. I should have listened. _I should have listened._

_Sometimes it’s better to just walk away._

The buckle finally gave, dropping me on the roof. I winced in pain at the impact on my side. It was hot and hard to breath. Stray strands of hair clung to my face from the sweat and tears as I coughed a bit before getting to my knees and facing towards the woods. I had to run for it. I got to my feet as they finally caught on that we were free.

“Oh, whoa, whoa. Oh, hey! They’re getting away!” one of them yelled and I took a run for it. The sound of gunfire and bullets whizzing past me drove me to run faster than I ever have in my life. I dodged trees, branches, and logs as I made my way through unknown territory. I looked behind me briefly to see if anyone had followed, causing me to trip forward and hit the ground hard. I was shaking and my limbs felt like jelly. I was dizzy from the blood rushing to and from my head, and I vomited from the turning of my stomach. I steeled my resolve and stood again. I had to keep going. If I stayed there, I was going to either get caught or killed. Maybe both, if Joseph’s words rang true. All I could do was keep stumbling forward as I wiped my mouth on the back of my gloved hand.

It was super dark out, but the moon was bright enough to allow me to at least see my surroundings. I could see a cabin on my left, and I ducked down to avoid being spotted. I don’t know what had happened, but my pistol was gone. I was unarmed and definitely in over my head. I could hear them shouting in the distance, hunting us down. My radio came alive, making me jump clean out of my skin.

“Hello…? Anyone hearing me? Hello? It’s Burke…Hello?” I had a mix of emotions as his voice came through. Relief that he had made it out alive but pissed off that he had left me behind. I also didn’t want to be out here alone, so knowing that he was out here too made me feel just a bit better. “I think I lost them. I see a…a trailer nearby. It’s next to a long bridge. I’m gonna try and get inside…if anyone’s still out there…Listen, if anyone is still alive, meet me there.”

I breathed a sigh of relief as I spotted the bridge through the trees. He wasn’t far. I picked up my pace as best as I could and made my way to the steep incline, my muscles protesting in agony. Once I reached the top, I bent over to catch my breath. I almost cried in relief at the sight on the trailer once I started to walk over the bridge, but I honestly didn’t think I had any tears left. Exhaustion threatened to seep in, but I forced myself to keep going. I jogged lightly the closer I got, the trailer door a beacon of safety. I pushed it open and turned just as Burke yelled and grabbed my neck. I screamed in response as I tried to push him away. His eyes widened in realization and his grip loosened.

“Jesus Christ, Blake. I’m sorry…I thought they got you. Come on.” He stumbled back and motioned for me to follow him through another door. “Check the room.” He pointed to a bedroom on our right and as I looked in, I could see pictures and posters all over the walls. Pictures of the Father and Eden’s Gate. As I turned to take in the rest of the house, I realized how much of a mess it was. Burke was sneaking around, like some sort of burglar and had it been any other scenario, I would have laughed. He turned to me, pale and panting. The ashen tint on his face showed just how freaked out he was, which wasn’t reassuring in the slightest.

“Oh Jesus! I had no idea.” And I just stared at him. No idea? I wanted to yell, to scream at him that Whitehorse had warned him, but I didn’t really have the energy to do so, the panic attack and adrenaline slowly starting to wear off. Whitehorse told him that we shouldn’t do it, but Burke wanted the glory. His pride was more important. He turned to the wall of framed pictures and pointed. “Fuck!” He approached the wall as I finally caught sight of what he was looking at. It looked like a family photo that was professionally done, but Burke yanked it off the wall before I could get a closer look and looked me in the eye. “We’re putting this whole family away. All of ‘em. Fucking lunatics!”

He threw the frame down in anger and stomped away. I took a step closer to the table to actually get a look of the photo. Joseph sat in a chair in the middle, back straight with no emotion whatsoever. The girl sat on the floor to his right, with her arm on his leg. The red-haired brother stood behind Joseph with a red sniper rifle in his hands, and I couldn’t help but praise myself for not doing anything too stupid in the church. I couldn’t say the same about the Marshal though. Lastly, the youngest brother leaned against the back of Joseph’s chair with a book in his hand.

“We’re going to get out of this, Rookie. First things first, we gotta arm ourselves.”

“What’s the plan?” I finally asked as I looked back up at him and followed. I didn’t want to follow him, deep down, but I didn’t have a choice. I was _way_ over my head, and I knew I couldn’t get out of this alone. He picked up a rifle and shoved it in my hands before grabbing the pistol for himself. I followed him as he approached a window and crouched down.

“Alright, here’s what we’re going to do.” He blew on the ammo cartridge before slapping it into the butt of his pistol before holstering it. “There’s a road out there. We’re gonna take it, and head Northeast. It’s probably only a few hours back to Missoula. And then,” he turned and grabbed my shoulder. I bit my tongue from biting his head off for daring to touch me. “we’re gonna come back here with the damn National Guard. And we’re gonna take out the rest of these—"

He was cut off by a couple of voices outside the trailer. I frowned. How did they find us so quickly? My eyes widened as it dawned on me. They took Hudson and Pratt, which meant they probably had their radios, too. If I had heard Burke’s message, then they had as well. I clenched my jaw in frustration. I wanted to strangle the Marshal for his constant stupidity, him and that joke of a warrant. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. I looked at Burke with a twist of my mouth. “You _idiot_ —"

“They came around this way!”

“Check inside the trailer!”

“Shh!” Burke whispered lowly as he motioned towards the other window. I gave a quick nod before I began my way over.

“They’re in there!” someone yelled as a rock was thrown through the window. I covered my face as glass exploded, landing on the carpet. I looked out to see a bunch of men running around, taking cover, and shooting at us with their own rifles. Great. Way to get your feet wet, Wren _._ Burke quickly ran to the other window on my side and began to return fire. To say the least, I was fucking terrified. I have done a lot of shit in my life, but I had never done _this_.

Aiming out the window, I tried to only land wounding shots instead of kill shots. I wasn’t prepared to take a life. I put my head down, made it through the academy, did everything I had to in order to get my life back on track. To get away from the shitty past. This wasn’t something I had asked for. The AR was digging into my shoulder, and I wondered briefly if I was holding it incorrectly. Burke cursed under his breath before jumping out through the window. As I returned fire, a stray bullet hit a red metal canister, causing an explosion that blew people off their feet.

I took advantage and followed Burke, trying to stay close enough to keep both of us protected. As much as I couldn’t stand him, I knew we were better off sticking together. The rush and panic were back, my heart pounding hard in my chest. Burke dashed, yelling me to cover him, as he ran towards a white truck.”

“Cover you with _what?!”_ I shrieked, paranoid that he was going to take off without me, so I run towards the truck after him.

He was cursing, trying to get the thing started, throwing me an incredulous look as I yanked open the passenger door. “I told you to cover me!” he hissed.

“And give you a chance to leave me again?” I snapped, throwing him a look, finally losing my patience and giving into the fear that was pumping in my veins…I wasn’t keeping my mouth shut anymore, not after the shit he kept pulling. “Not likely.”

He grumbled something about not doing it again with a half-assed apology, but I wasn’t paying attention. I was watching the next wave of cultists running towards us, clinging tightly to the gun in my hands. With a victorious yell, the truck started just as a bullet ricocheted off the door next to my head. I quickly ducked in the cab of the truck as he slammed on the gas.

“Up ahead, watch it!” Burke yelled and I looked up to see two of them shooting at us, but Burke just pressed the gas harder. “Hold on!”

He rammed the truck into the chain-link gates, tearing it down as the yelling and gunshots faded behind us. I was drenched in sweat, my breathing quick. “Holy fuck.” I breathed out, one hand gripping on the door handle and the other cradling my rifle.

“You ok?” Burke asked, throwing me a glance. I gave a quick nod before his attention went back to the road. “Nice work back there. I’d be dead if it weren’t for you. We gotta get back…but we gotta be smart. We don’t know who we can trust…fucking Nancy.”

“Fucking Nancy.” I echoed with malice. I hadn’t gotten super close with Nancy, but her betrayal still stung. She was so nice, praising and talking about the niece she was so damn proud of all the time. She welcomed me into that station with open arms.

“Oh no…oh no, they got the roads blocked.”

“They what?” My eyes widened as I took in the amass of trucks and concrete blocks. I could see barbed wire and stop signs in the back of a few. The cultists turned to us, and opened fire. “Oh shit!”

“Shoot!!” Burke shouted at me, and I pulled the rifle up, aiming out of the window. Of all the things I expected from a small town, this definitely wasn’t one of them. I wanted to cry, curl up in a ball, and set on the floorboard of the truck. I was done with this shit, but I tried my best to defend us as Burke drove like a damn madman.

“For the Father!” A man shouted as two white trucks showed up out of nowhere, shooting at us.

“Behind us, keep them off us!” Burke yelled.

The panic was starting to spread again, from the yelling and the gunfire, it was just all too much. And then I see a burst of red on a windshield, the white truck swerving and hitting the other. But all I could think of was the blood. I killed someone...I just fucking killed someone! My chest pulled painfully as my eyes swam with tears.

“Jesus Christ, we can’t get around it! Hold on, we gotta get off the main road.” Burke jerks the truck roughly, knocking me back from the window and my thoughts. I gasped as he ran through a fence, pieces of metal and wood flying. “They keep coming, Blake! Get back out there!”

“How about you focus on not getting us killed?” I snapped as he flew off a hill, the truck slamming against the ground.

“Could say the same to you!” he retorted. “There’s a case of dynamite in the back of the truck, use it!”

“What?!”

He didn’t answer as I popped my head back out, eyeing the back to see an open wooden box. The sticks of dynamite were everywhere, strewn around from all the momentum, so I could only reach a few without falling. Burke swerved, and I gripped the truck tighter, praying to whatever higher being there was that I wouldn’t die like this.

The shooting continued as I, finally, made it securely back into the somewhat-safe interior of the truck. Reaching into my back pocket, I pull out a metal litter as my hands shook violently, flipping the top and lighting one of the sticks to throw. I wouldn’t normally condone this kind of thing, and nor have I ever done this, but my instinct to survive was above everything else. My body was just reacting, and my mind was still miles behind, with that red stained truck.

I would never claim to have the best aim in the world, but trying to throw something out of a moving vehicle, hanging out of the window, with a bulky rifle against you…well, it wasn’t the best. Most that I threw went off too late or landed too far away. Burke’s curses joined the choir of gunfire and the shocks on the old truck as it rumbled along. Then it was joined by an odd sound that I didn’t recognize.

“John’s here!” Someone yelled.

Who the fuck was John?!

“Is that a fucking plane? Don’t tell me they got fucking air support!” Burke yelled, slamming his hand against the wheel.

My face twisted in confusion as I tried to adjust my rifle, but I froze, eyes wide, as I saw what Burke was screaming about. I didn’t know much about planes, and I would never pretend to, but the black one I saw was _gorgeous_. Or at least, from what I saw of it before it started shooting at us, coming a little too close for my comfort. Quickly flipping off the plane, I went back to fending off Peggies in trucks and ATVs, people shooting us from the side of the road. The plane made another round, Burke doing what he could to avoid getting us killed.

“Motherfucking psychopaths!!” Burke screamed as he drove straight towards a roadblock. “Motherfucking _Peggies_!!”

“Burke, we’re not going to make that!” I yelled over the chaos. The truck was already trashed, I wasn’t sure how much it could take, but it wasn’t just that. It was the fact he was going to crash us into a _fucking roadblock_. I tried hard to keep the flashbacks at bay, fear overcoming the adrenaline.

We hit it head on with a huge bang, but somehow, we were still going. Burke straightened out, slamming the gas again to speed back up as we approached a bridge. Relief and hope dared to spread in my chest until a truck cut in front of us, laying down heavy fire. What the fuck was wrong with this county?!

“You’ve gotta be kidding me?!” he roared beside me.

“Is that…what is that?!” I screamed. “A mounted machine gun?”

He was about to answer until the color drained from his face. “Oh no—”

I turned just in time to see a glimpse of the plane and the explosion quickly after. I screamed as the Marshal jerked the wheel, launching us right into a free fall. My heart stopped and my breathing was caught in my throat as we nosedived towards the river. Flashes of memories buried deep flew in my mind: broken glass, the deployed airbag, the pain, _the blood…_

Gasping quickly, the truck landed hard in the water, the cab filling quickly through the open window. I’m too shocked to move at first as I watch Burke shoot out the windshield with his pistol. He moves forward, and I reach out to grab him in desperation, but he’s already swimming away. I clench my teeth in rage as I finally free myself from the seatbelt.

I’m running out of air as I swim up, breaching the surface with a loud gasp, trying to breathe in as much as my lungs can handle. It’s a struggle, but I make my way to the riverbank, my muscles screaming. I whimper as I crawl, my body finally giving out from under me, and I collapse, rolling on my back. My focus is in and out as I fight to stay awake. The adrenaline, the panic, everything has left me numb and cold, pushed way past my limits.

“Let me go!!! I’m a federal Marshal—”

Burke’s words are cut off with the sound of him getting hit with something a distance away and I scoff. Fucker deserved that. “This one needs a little faith…look along the banks, there was another one. We need to take them to the Father.”

I groan as an older man came into view. My vision was too blurry to make out any features and I cough then take another deep breath. I don’t have the energy to say a word to this man, let alone fight him when he starts to drag me away. The last thing I see before my vision goes black is the starry night, wondering where the plane went.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please don't forget to leave a comment or kudos! <3


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